On the lively boulevards of Amsterdam, where bicycles fill the streets and pedestrians walk along the crowded cobblestone sidewalks, tension unravels. For decades, the Dutch tourism industry has granted international visitors with experiences, souvenirs, and imagery of symbols like wooden clogs, windmills, bikes, and bundles of vibrantly colored tulips. These very picturesque symbols are renowned globally by foreigners for their iconic association with Amsterdam and authentic Dutch culture. At first glance, nothing seems to be inherently wrong, but on further inspection, the tens of thousands of daily visitors to this notorious Dutch capital coupled with the overwhelming popularity of such symbols, comes at a much greater cost.
In the months, turned years, of gleeful post-COVID rejuvenation, rates of tourism in Amsterdam shot back up to beyond what they were pre-pandemic. Tension arose with the consistent and pervasive arrival of travelers year-round and further pressure was put on the relationship between cultural authenticity, local identity, and tourism in Amsterdam. According to the NL Times, the number of tourists visiting the city rocketed from 12.2 million in 2012 to a whopping 20.34 million in 2023, thus solidifying Amsterdam as a ‘hot spot’ destination for global travelers. During an interview, Leo Zaal, an employee at the well-visited Clara Maria Clog and Cheese Farm, explains, “I know after COVID-19 it became more and more busy, and still is growing. I can still see more tourists coming each year. 2025 will be very, very busy.”
These data points and Zaal’s firsthand experience with rapidly growing tourist rates bring attention to the phenomenon of over-tourism, where excessive tourism disrupts external factors, in this case, the sociocultural harmony between Amsterdam and its residents.
To understand more about the systemic effects of over-tourism, I talked with system transformation and organizational development professor Maria Sturm who explains “It’s about the numbers. So, the moment the number of tourists is highly overrating the number of locals, and locals feel like they have been pushed away, then the whole system is out of balance.”
This system destabilization, referred to as a ‘tipping point’ by Rachel Dodds, a researcher at Toronto University, is linked to key factors that drive over-tourism. With the high density of tourists in Amsterdam’s city center, public spaces such as sidewalks, become grossly overcrowded, making the act of walking or biking around the city exhausting. In communication with Maurice Bolders, an established Amsterdam resident, he reflects on this issue, “It has definitely negatively impacted the city because locals try to stay out of the center as much as possible. You feel like a stranger in your own city.”
Consequently, this rush of visitors increases the overall cost of living for locals and even the expenses for tourists themselves. As the tourism industry prioritizes economic growth, this inflames the problem as companies follow suit and aim to prioritize tourists. This is visible in the copious number of souvenir shops selling trinkets that embody the globally admired symbols of Amsterdam. Sophia Dolores, a university student and tourist to Amsterdam, shares her thoughts on how the industry uses these symbols. “ I had often associated the Netherlands and Amsterdam with the image of tulips and windmills.” She continues, “The tourism industry does appear to rely on traditional Dutch symbols and iconography such as clogs, tulips, windmills, the XXX’s of the red light district, and more to create an image of Dutch life and scenery for the tourist experience.”
Alternative factors support this commercial prioritization of tourists and economic growth. Maria Strum introduces the influence of the aviation industry. “I think for the last five years, if you look into the number of cheap flights, carriers have heavily influenced the amount of tourists. So, just having a flight for like €30, that’s really something that brings a lot of people to the city.”
The reality of tourists being funneled in and out of Amsterdam creates an environment where locals feel estranged, avoiding specific areas of the city. As Sophia Dolores observes, “As a tourist, I have heard and experienced that many Amsterdam locals will avoid typical tourist locations, meaning that the people one interacts with whilst exploring the city are also not from the area.” This very dynamic is what diminishes local identity and is cause for concern. Maurice Boulders, reflecting on his experience living in the tourist-filled city, states, “Outside the center of Amsterdam, where we live, the local culture is still very strongly present, but this is not visible to the tourists and hopefully it stays like that. In the center of Amsterdam, you hardly meet locals on the street, in cafés, restaurants, etcetera.” He adds, “I personally find it still bizarre that in a lot of cafés in the center I cannot order a simple coffee in Dutch.” Maurice gives context as to how over-tourism negatively impacts the lives of residents.
Together, these factors contribute to a system where the balance between locals and tourists is greatly destabilized. As Maria Sturm puts it, “It’s not only the perspective of economic interests, it’s also the interest of the people living there. I think they also benefit from a lively city, but now it’s way too much leaning into the interests of tourism.”
Research by Rocío Suarez establishes that over-tourism leads to a growing erosion of local culture, threatening its authenticity and putting sociocultural integrity at risk.
The authenticity of these cultural emblems–wooden clogs, tulips, wheels of cheese, windmills, and bikes– is increasingly reduced to marketable trinkets that cater more to tourists than to locals, who have differing opinions on what defines Dutch culture.
In the words of Maurice Boulders, “It is definitely exaggerated and would be more suitable in a Disney-style entertainment park of the Netherlands.” He continues, “It would be more accurate to focus on the values that are important to Dutch people, for example, work-life balance, accepting people for what they are, etcetera.” For this resident, there are much deeper aspects that better reflect Dutch life and culture, such as values rooted in equality and welfare. Rather than reducing the Dutch identity to a commodified level, this insight uncovers the disconnect between what is marketed to tourists and what is authentic to Dutch locals.
Over-tourism in Amsterdam has led to the mass-marketing of cultural symbols, in turn altering their meaning for locals and reducing them to superficial representations. As noted by long-time resident Asifa Mirza, whose perspective deepens the understanding of how locals view their culture and city, “These icons definitely attract the tourists, and having lived here for 16 years, I would say that my thoughts are mixed on this. On the one hand, the unique beauty of the canals and the eco-friendliness of cycling should certainly be used to promote the Netherlands. The tulips have a long history and are beautiful when in season but the clogs and large balls of cheese do not really feature in the daily life of the Dutch.” She adds, “It feels like a city of foreigners, and many locals complain that it is not a real Dutch city anymore but just one large tourist attraction.” For locals, the mass-commodification of these symbols contributes to a growing sense of alienation, positioning Amsterdam as more of a curated tourist attraction than a city that reflects local Dutch identity.
In response to this shift, as of 2021, the City Council has imposed corrective regulations upon the tourist industry, implementing a 12.5% lodging tax and capping overnight stays at 20 million per year. However, as Maria Sturm points out, the over-tourism in Amsterdam that threatens local identity and cultural integrity requires more than just policy changes, it requires a sustainable approach to address the deeper issues at hand, “I think you have to have manageable growth. You still can have growth, but think more about smart growth.” Protecting local identity and cultural heritage while managing tourist growth, requires looking at the bigger picture. Sturm adds, “It’s not just endlessly welcoming people in the center of Amsterdam but thinking about how to manage the whole tourist stream. Where do we want tourists to be? And how is that affecting certain neighborhoods, public transport, and the spaces where people live?”
Locals Asifa Mirza and Maurice Bolders share their thoughts on how Amsterdam could balance the promotion of tourism whilst preserving local culture and authenticity. For Asifa, the solution lies in prioritizing family-oriented and cultural tourism. She emphasizes, “There are many wonderful parks, art galleries and museums, historical buildings, different suburbs, other ethnic and artisan shops and increasing interesting Dutch food and restaurants that can be better promoted”, thus noting the relevance of shifting away from over-commercialized symbols like clogs, tulips, and cheese, to experience richer facets of Dutch customs.
Conversely, Maurice suggests implementing stricter measures, he states “Limit the number of tourists to fifty percent of the current volume. No more expansion of hotels, and forbid renting out your house to tourists via Airbnb, etcetera. All tourist taxes need to go back to the residents that are not part of the tourist industry.” Boulders’ proposition suggests a solution that not only reduces tourist rates but also gives back to the local community.
For tourist Sophia Dolores it is important to showcase true Dutch History. “There is little representation nor recognition of the Netherlands’ long and deep colonial history, the slave trade and the spice trade.” She urges, “I would like to see more recognition of that as well as how Amsterdam is evolving as an international city, the influence of new cultures, traditions, and how they are fusing and interacting with older Dutch symbols and cultural ideals.” For Sophia, the future of tourism in Amsterdam should focus on its multicultural identity, showing how modern-day identities connect with traditional Dutch symbols.
Taking everything into account, tourism is not inherently harmful, as Maria Sturm frames it, “I think one of the basic mental models people have is that they need to explore. I think it’s good that people travel and meet other people, but I don’t think it’s good that they destroy a whole city center.” Humans naturally seek to explore and connect, however, when an overtouristic industry exploits symbols, such as the tulip, wooden clog, windmill, and bike, it dilutes the very essence of a culture and drives locals away. Focusing on appreciating and respecting Amsterdam’s deep history and rich culture, rather than exploiting it, requires a smarter approach to tourism that protects the city’s culture and upholds the heritage of the local community.
